Spray with refill aerosols



April 14, 1964 B. T. E. PICOT SPRAY WITH REFILL AERosoLs 2 Sheets-Sheetl Filed July s. 1961 April 14, 1964 B. T. E. PlcoT 3,128,916

SPRAY WITH REFILL AEROSOLS Filed July 3. 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 UnitedStates Patent() 3,128,916 SPRAY WITH REFILL AERGSOLS Bernard ThomasEmile Picot, Paris, France, assigner to Parfums Christian Dior FiledJuly 3, 1961, Ser. No. 121,520 Claims priority, application France May10, 1961 1 Claim. (Cl. Z22- 183) The present invention has for itsobject a spray, for example a handbag spray of the type equipped with anaerosol, or similar thereto, which can be reloaded by means ofinterchangeable cartridge or refills.

Sprays of this type placed on the market heretofore have generallycomprised a presentation casing in which is housed the removablecartridge or reiill consisting of a small pressurized reservoircontaining the liquid to be sprayed, said reservoir being iitted at itstop with a valve and a spray-head. In such devices, the sole function ofthe outer casingv is to provide protection and eye-appeal, and it ispossible to operate the cartridge fitted with its spray-headindependently.

Such sprays present a number of drawbacks, however. In the iirst place,the non-encased glass refill is dangerous to handle; indeed, in theevent of a knock or a fall, it could explode and cause projections ofglass splinters. This hazard is further accrued by the fact that theuser may be tempted to use the refill alone without its presentationcasing 'andthe protection afforded by the latter, due to the fact that,as stated precedingly, the reiill can be used independently of the spraybody. In the second place, the valve on the refill may operateaccidentally in the course of handling or transport.

The present invention has for its objects spray which overcomes thesedrawbacks.

The spray according to the invention is notably remarkable in that thecartridge or refill comprises a pressurized reservoir for the liquid tobe sprayed, which is iitted at its top with a valve and a spray-head,and an outer casing which completely encloses the assembly and isprovided with liquid-distributing oriiices, the control member foroperating the valve on said cartridge being located on the body of thespray itself.

According to a further characteristic of the invention, the spray-headis integrally united with said casing, while the aforementionedreservoir is slidingly accommodated therein.

The advantages of the spray according to the invention are immediatelyclearly apparent.

The casing with which the cartridge is equipped protects the reservoiragainst knock. Even in the event of the reservoir fracturing as theresult of a particularly violent knock, the casing will prevent anyprojections of glass, since the orifice which it embodies for passage ofthe control member acts as a discharge vent for the compressed gas.

The invention also has for its objects, by way of a novel industrialproduct, a cartridge or relill usable in the aforementioned spray andremarkable in that it comprises a pressurized reservoir for the liquidto be sprayed which is fitted at its top with a valve and a spray-head,the complete assembly being enclosed in an outer casing provided withone or more orifices to provide the necessary means of access for somesuitable member to control said valve.

Such a cartridge cannot be used on its own, and this is a particularlyadvantageous feature in the case of luxury products such as perfume. Inaddition, the cartridge is in no danger of leaking during transport,handling or storage, since it can be operated only by the control memberprovided on the body of the spray.

According to a further characteristic of the invention, theaforementioned orifice or orifices are provided with a seal constitutinga guarantee at the same time, and this 3,128,916 Patented Apr. 14, 1964seal is crimped, glued or fixed in any convenient manner outside orinside the aforementioned casing and may alternatively consist of atearable part of the casing, said seal being broken by said controlmember as the cartridge is positioned inside the spray body. A cartridgeprovided with such a guarantee cannot be used unless the seal has beenbroken. In this way the user can ascertain whether or not the cartridgehas been used before.

Yet yfurther characteristics will become apparent from the descriptionwhich follows with reference to the accompanying drawings, given by wayof example only and not of limitation, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a sectional View of an embodiment of the spray according tothe invention.

FIGURE 2 is an identical View, showing the spray in operation with thecap removed.

In the example shown, the spray comprises a body 1 to the top of whichis fitted, for instance by crimping, a ring 2 which is provided, aboutmidway along, with an annular ridge 3. Said ridge rests upon the upperedge of the body 1 and serves as an abutment for a cap or similar devicewhich engages over the upper portions 5 of said ring 2.

Over its lower portion inserted into the body 1, the ring 2 may embody asmall inwardly projecting ridge 6 which is preferably annular or formssectors or annular projections to assist in guiding a cartridge orreiill 7 slidingly Vinto thebodyrl, Manifestly, the ridges 6 may beintegral with the body 1 or the casing 13. The relill 7,'the upperportion of which projects beyond the body 1, consists of a reservoir 8containing the liquid to be sprayed and a layer of gas under pressure,and said reiill is equipped at its top with a valve 9 of any type wellknown per se the tube 10 of which pentrates into a spray-head 11provided with a discharge passageway 12.

The assembly consisting of the reservoir 8, the valve 9 and thespray-head 11 is enclosed in a casing 13 which may be made of metal,rigid synthetic material, or some other suitable material.

In the embodiment illustrated, the spray-head 11 is integrally unitedwith the casing 13, and an orifice is provided in said casing 13 at thepoint where said discharge passageway 12 debouches and is fitted with aspraying nozzle 14, the tank 8 being slidable longitudinally in thecasing 13.

At its bottom, the casing 13 is provided with an orifice 15, While thebottom end of the body 1 is fitted with a peg 16 or other protrudingmember which passes through said orice and abuts against the bottom ofthe reservoir 8, or alternatively against a washer or similar member(not shown) inserted between the bottom of reservoir 8 and the casing13.

Naturally, the length of the peg 16 will be at least equal to the degreeof play of which the reservoir 8 is capable in the casing 13, augmentedby the thickness of the bottom of casing 13 and where applicable, thedepth to which the bottom of the reservoir 8 is dished.

The device described hereinabove functions very simply, in the followingmanner:

After the cap 4 has been removed, the user presses on the head of thecartridge projecting beyond the spray body 1 and slides the refillintosaid body 1, thereby causing the peg 16 to thrust against the bottomof reservoir 8 (see FIGURE 2). The tube 10 of valve 9, which isintegrally united with the spray-head 11, thrusts into the reservoir 8(held stationary by the peg 16) and thereby causes opening of the valve9.

When the user relaxes pressure on the cartridge head, the springassociated to the valve 9 thrusts away the sprayhead 11 and, with it,the casing 13 which slides longitudinally in the body 1, thereby causingthe cartridge to revert to its initial position.

When the cartridge 7 is spent, the user can very easily remove it fromthe body of the spray by sliding it upwards, and then replace it by afresh cartridge. This refill may advantageously be provided with a sealobturating the orifice 15. Such a Seal may conveniently consist of astrip or capsule glued, crimped or fixed in any suitable manner to theoutside or inside of the casing 13; alternatively, it may consist of atearable portion of the casing 13. The seal Will be automatically brokenor punched through when the cartridge 7 is introduced in to the body 1.This feature incorporated in the cartridge is a very valuable one fromthe users standpoint, since it enables the integrity of the rell to beascertained before use.

It is manifest, that, without departing from the scope of the invention,many modifications may be made to the spray described hereinbefore. Thebody of the spray and the relill itself may naturally be shaped in anyconvenient manner and not necessarily like that illustrated by way ofexample. Similarly, the peg 16 may be replaced by one or more protrudingmembers of any convenient shape, in which case the casing 13 will embodyorifices of matching shape.

Nor is it necessary for the displacement of the reiill 7 in relation tothe body 1 to be a straight longitudinal motion, as described above.Indeed, without departing from the invention to any great extent, itwould be easy to imagine a spray in which the displacement of the refill7 relative to the body 1 takes place as a spiral motion. To achievethis, the body 1 and the casing 13 could be provided with spiral groovesand ridges respectively, longitudinal displacement of the cartridge 7being then obtained by rotating the latter relative to the body 1.

It is to be clearly understood that the invention is by no means limitedto the specific embodiment described with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, which iS given by way of example only.

What I claim is:

An atomizer for sprayinga liquid, comprising a refill cartridgecomprising a container for a liquid and a gas under pressure above saidliquid, provided at its top with a valve and a spray-head, and casingconsisting of a cylndrical wall with an upper end face and a bottom endface, provided near the upper end face with an orice for the passage ofsaid liquid, and in the bottom end face with an opening, said spray-headbeing fixed in said casing md said container being displaceable withinsaid casing, and operation of said valve being controlled bydisplacement of the container relative to said casing, the containerbeing resiliently applied against the bottom end face of said casing bymeans of the valve, and a body of general cylindrical form with a bottomend face, for receiving said refill cartridge, provided with a peg onthe inside of said bottom end face, the dimensions of the pegcorresponding to the dimensions of the opening in the bottom end face ofsaid casing of said refill cartridge, so as to penetrate into saidcasing through said orifice in its bottom end face, on depressing saidcasing in said body, and then iirst to contact the bottom of saidcontainer and after pushing said container in order to operate saidvalve.

References Cited in the iile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,607,627 Gregg et al Aug. 19, 1952 2,940,641 Norrish et al. June 14,1960 2,966,283 Darvie Dec. 27, 1960

